The funeral rites of SA Basha—sentenced to life for the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blasts—was held on December 17, amid high security. His body was taken in a procession through Coimbatore city before his burial. Reports said that 2000 to 5000 Tamil Nadu police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel were deployed during the funeral.
On February 14, 1998, bombs went off at 12 locations in Coimbatore city, just ahead of BJP leader LK Advani’s visit, killing 58 people and injuring another 200. Basha was found guilty by the court and was sentenced to life imprisonment along with 12 others in 2007. He was convicted for conspiring to acquire gelatine and other explosives.
Basha was granted parole recently for undergoing medical treatment for an illness. On December 17, he was brought home to his son Siddique Ali’s house from the hospital where he was taken off the ventilator after he stopped responding to treatment.
Fundamentalist organisations including the Al-Ummah founded by Basha, the All India Jihad Committee, and Islamic Defence Force, were all held responsible for the 1998 bombings. The blasts came four months after communal riots in the city during which 18 Muslims were killed.
Basha founded Al-Ummah after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. As ties between Muslims and Hindus in Coimbatore and elsewhere became increasingly strained, Al-Ummah was able to radicalise young Muslims.
Basha’s body was taken in procession from Siddique Ali’s residence in Ukkadam to Hyder Ali Tippu Sultan Sunnath Jamaath Masjid in Flower Market for the final rites.
Condolences poured in for Basha from multiple political parties despite his conviction. Basha was seen as an outspoken Muslim leader who had served his time for the blasts, having spent close to 17 years in prison. The funeral was attended by Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) deputy general secretary Vanni Arasu and Seeman, alongside many Muslim and Kongu leaders.
Across party lines, whether the VCK that is currently in alliance with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), or Opposition parties such as AIADMK and Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), had earlier demanded that the state government release Muslim convicts including those sentenced for the 1998 blasts.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised the state government for granting permission to Basha’s funeral procession, accusing them of “minority appeasement”.